Word: kong
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...worker, Chan joined the government as an élite administrative cadet and enjoyed a 39-year career, marred only by a heavily criticized decision to separate a child from an apparently unstable mother - made while Chan was Director of Social Welfare in 1986 - and the bungled opening of Hong Kong's new airport in 1998, which Chan had been tasked with monitoring. By the time she resigned in early 2001 - after being bullied by Beijing to support her then boss Tung - the gaffes were long forgotten...
Anson Chan isn't anyone's idea of a radical. As the first Chinese to hold the post of Chief Secretary in Hong Kong's colonial government, she was a widely admired example of how a local, through hard work and artfulness, could ascend to the top of the establishment. Since her retirement six years ago, Chan's stature has barely diminished. With a patrician demeanor that can convey both hauteur and charisma, she is the paragon of the city's haute bourgeoisie. The city's working people treat her like a queen. And although she served in Hong Kong...
...While Chan has demonstrated plenty of political nous in the past, one thing she has never been is an actual politician - until now. In a second-act surprise, the 67-year-old former civil servant is running for Hong Kong's Legislative Council; if she wins, she will become the unquestioned leader of the legislature's democratic caucus. The Dec. 2 by-election - for a seat made vacant by the death of pro-Beijing lawmaker Ma Lik - is being billed as the most dramatic in Hong Kong's history because of its implications for democratic reform. Chan faces...
...bruising primary debate on Sept. 24, a rival candidate accused her of being a "sudden democrat." Yet Chan says her decision to run for office was driven not by a change in principles, but by her growing disillusionment with the laggard pace of reform. Under the Basic Law, Hong Kong's mini-constitution, the city is supposed to be granted universal suffrage eventually. But more than a decade after the law took effect, Beijing remains wary that full democracy in Hong Kong could spark an outcry for similar rights on the mainland and continues to stifle reform. Hong Kong...
...According to Ma Ngok, a political scientist at the City University of Hong Kong, Chan could become a dignified face for the territory's vocal but ineffective opposition. She is also helped by the fact that her opponent carries plenty of political baggage. Ip remains unpopular in many quarters for her support of a divisive, and ultimately failed, antisubversion bill. That controversy, which brought half a million Hong Kong people onto the streets in protest in July 2003, led to Ip's resignation as Secretary for Security. Ip recently made a public apology for her aggressive promotion of the bill...